Collapsible cabinet



June 10, 1952 P. L. DU Bol-'F ET Al.

COLLAPSIBLE CABINET s sheets-sheet 1 Filed March 5l, 1949 /IVVE/VTORSalsof-,

June 10, 1952 P. Du BOFF ET Al.

` coLLAPsIBLE CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 5l, 1949 //V VEA/TORS,DAW/ ,170 50i;

f/og/'As /x 00m 3;

s v E N R 0 r r A June l0, 1952 Filed March 3l, 1949 P. l.. Du Bol-'F ETAL 2,600,050

` COLLAPSIBLE CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 10, 1952 UNITED.STAT-es PATENT H; Dooley, Bayonne, N. J., assignors, by lrreslne.lassignments, te Philip L. Du Boff, Scalsdale, N Yz v VAlmhication 431,1949, Serial No. 845656 s Claims. (o1. 31a-2,62),

This` invention. relates to new and useful improvements in cabinets andmore particularly to cabinets ot the collapsible type,l the primaryobject of theinvention being toprovide a collapsible cabinet which isprovidedA with means for quickly and readily locking'. the same inset-up position. tov prevent lateral sway or movement, such means alsoaffording a 'utilitarian purpose.

A. further object of the invention resides in the provision of structureat the` corners of a collapsible cabinet to. make. the samesubstantially dust proof.

A. still further object resides in providingv removable shelves adapted:toY be itted` in place in. such manner as to lock. the cabinet-inupright position and prevent lateral sway or movement of the same.

A further object residesin providing a cabinet which is capable of beingknocked-down andstored or shipped in a reasonably. small space andonewhich may be quickly and readily assembled when desiredA for use.

A sti-ll further object of the invention resides in providing acollapsible cabinet with walls hinged together and having the edges atthe hingedL portions so constructed as to be` intertting in formationand providingsubstantiallya dust proof connection.

Still another object residesin so` forrn'ir'igc'er` tainl Walls` of the.collapsible cabinet as to` provide for a frictional connection withportions of shelves to create an interlocking connection, sustainingthe. cabinet in set-.up position Iockedi against lateral sway ormovement.

A further object of the invention resides .in providing a device whichis. simple'. and durable construction, inexpensive to manufacture andone which Will bevery.- eflicient and usefulv in .operen ation.

VtitliV these and numerous other objects in View,v the inventionconsists in the novel features` of construction, combination andarrangement of parte, as will be hereinafter referred. toand moreparticularly pointed out in the specication and;

In thev accompanying drawingsy forminga part i this. application,

Figure 1 is a frontl elevation. of a cabinet. con-1 strliltedinaccordance with our invention?,v with parte broken away and parts', insection, the? cabi-1 het being in upright position 4and: the doorQnened;

2; is a central` vertical section there through, taken; substantially onthe'. line 2:-2. of Figure E?, showingthe-horizontal position ofA theshelves and` the` relation thereof tothe Wallsy 0i the cabinet;

Figur'e i-s a vertical transverse slectionr as. seen on the line 3;-3.rif-:Figure: 5.;

Figurelis aview similar to .Figure l',- with partsr broken... away andparts in section. better illus.- trating theposition ofthe shelves andtheirrelar tion to portions of the cabinetin, assemhledaDQS-l tion; A

Figure 5 is'. a horizontal section; asKv seen` on,l the line liz-54 of.Figure, 3'; Figure 6. is a similar view, asseenY on the line; (-e ofFigure 3:;

Figure. 7 isa horizontal section; taken through the cabinet in collapsedposition Figure. 8. is avew: similar to Figure '1, shovving portions. ofthe' cabinetset up' to formr dust proof corners.; Y Y l Y Figure. 9; is'af vertical sectional. Viewy sin; Figure 3; with tliedoor being omittedand g M partitions or sheliz'essupportedin pla-ce, W1, h the uppermostshelfv or partition aboutto be moved dmnwarell-y7 eleetive;loclrinerosition:

Figure. lOfis a frag-mentali sectional rvievvY show ing relation. ofparts of a-y shel-fto portions ou the collapsible. walls;

Figure. 1l is? aifragmental; perspective viewiyvith parts showninsection, of orl'eof the walljsoif the cabinets showing` particularly.the no tgchV fcgrlrredl therein;

Figure 12 is a fraemental perspective viert efk thedooroffthecabinetremovect:with:partsshowni i-n section.;

Figure 13 is a perspective view.Y ofshelves removed;

Figure. r4. isv a sectional` View fragment of a. slightly. modifiedform. of. wall; structure toy provide a modified formcf dust proofcorner;-

Figure 15'.y is asimilar View showing the Walls; ini interlockedpositionprovidingthe modified form; of' dust proof corner;v and` Figure. loi isa: fragmentary. perspective view; with parts section; of: one ofY the'.WallsA of this modification shovvnrin Figures Hand '15.'

I-ni describing` the invention, we sh'all refer to-` the" drawingsinvvhich similar reference charac-1 ters desigr-late. correspondingparts throughout' thel several vievv's and' in' which the numeral `ldesie'riatesI the rear' Wall off'ar cabinet, preferably.- made ofmetal;k although? it.' will be understood* thatthesamej may be nl'adeofany. desiredmais'. terial, saidr'ar wall having thesidefedges thereofb'entangularly tofom thesideflanges 2";- The are: also provided the sideWalls 3 andfk anni "as:

one of the.

T this" is` a? collapsible orknockdownfabinetkthe latter walls arehinged to the rear wall through the medium of hinges 5. Portions of thehinges are secured to the inner faces of the side flanges 2 of the rearwall while other portions of the hinges are secured to the inner facesof the side Walls at points slightly distant from the rear edges of thelatter, as best illustrated in Figures l and 8 of the drawings. The rearedges of the side walls 3 and 4 are bent angularly and inwardly, asshown at 6 to provide end flanges thereon, these latter flanges fittingsnugly against the rear face of the wall I when the side walls areextended to their outward positions, as clearly shown in Figure 8. Thus,the hinges are hidden from View, under normal conditions, and thecorners of the walls I, 3 and 4 are adapted to be interlocked to providesubstantially dust proof connections. The front edges of the side walls3 and 4 are bent inwardly to form the flat abutment flanges 1, thencerearwardly, as shown at `8, and then toward the side walls, as shown at9. The termination of the metal forming the face 9 is just short of theinner face of the walls 3 and 4, as best seen in Figures rI and 8, andfor a purpose to be hereinafter and more particularly set forth. It willbe seen, however, that the formation of the frontl edges of the sidewalls 3 and 4 in the manner set forth provides smooth, strong and rigidfront edges for the walls.

The faces 8 and 9 of the front portions of these Y walls 3 and 4 are cutaway or notched at various intervals throughout the length of the walls,as shown at I0. These notches or cut away portions I afford means forthe introduction of shelves which are also used to lock the walls inassembled or upright position, as hereinafter set forth.

The shelves are designated by the numeral II and each shelf has itsfront edge provided with an upstanding ange I2, while the side edges areformed with depending flanges I3. The flanges I2 and I3 extend,respectively, the full width and depth of each shelf. The rear edge ofeach shelf is provided with a vdepending flange I4, the ends of whichterminate short of the side edges of the shelf, as clearly shown indotted lines in Figure 13 of the drawings. As many shelves may beprovided as are desired, according to the height of the cabinet andwhile in the drawings we have shown three such shelves, and furtherwhile we have shown a rather elongated cabinet, it is to be understoodthat the height, size, and shape of the cabinet may be varied asdesired, so that the number of shelves may be varied as found necessaryand/or desirable.

As heretofore indicated, the shelves are also constructed to perform thefunction of locking the walls in upright position. In carrying out thisobjective, there are provided on the inner face of the rear wall I anumber of spaced strips or the like I to provide means for connectiontherewith of the depending flange I4 on the rear edge of each shelf.Interlocking of the ange I4 of the shelf with the strip I5 is clearlyshown in Figures 3 and 9 of thedrawings. When it is desired to set upthe cabinet, from a collapsed position, as shown in Figure 7, the wallsare outspread, as shown in Figure 8, and the shelves are introducedthrough the notches IIJ into a position as shown by the upper shelf inFigure 9. Then the shelf is forced frictionally against the walls anddownwardly until the depending fiange I4 locks into the strip I5. Inaccomplishing. this, the ange I2 frictionally locks into the notch I0and the depending side flanges I3 lock frictionally in the restrictedspaces between the ends of the faces 9. and the inner faces of the walls3 and 4, as best shown in dotted lines in Figures 5, 6 and 10 of thedrawings. This frictional interlocking fit between the side flanges I3and the restricted spaces between the walls 3 and 4 and the ends of thefaces 9 not only locks the walls in upright position but preventslateral sway or movement when the device is so set up.

There is also provided a door I6 which is hingedly mounted on pintles I1supported on the face 1 of the wall 4. This door may be of any desiredconstruction but is preferably constructed with bent edges to form beadsas shown in Figure 12 of the drawings.

The cabinet is provided with a top wall I8 and a base I9. We have shownthis top and base of simple construction and it may be varied asdesired.

In Figures 14 to 16, inclusive, we have shown a slightly modified formof structure insofar as the dust proof corner structure is concerned. Inthis modification, the rear wall 20 is provided adjacent its side edgeswith notches or indentations 2l. The side wall 22 which is hinged to theside flange 23 of the rear wall, has the rear edge thereof angularlybent as shown at 24 and this bent edge or flange has formed thereon thearcuate tongues or fingers 25 which are adapted to fit snugly in thenotches or indentations 2l when the side wall is brought to an uprightposition with respect to the rear wall, as best shown in Figure l5 ofthe drawings. This modification merely provides for a spring lockingconnection at the corners when the device is set up to improve the dustproof quality of the corner construction.

From the foregoing description of the construction of our improvedcollapsible cabinet, the

method of assembly and application thereof to use will be readilyunderstood and it will be seen that we have provided a comparativelysimple,

inexpensive and efficient means for carrying out` the various purposesand objects of the invention.

While we have described the elements best adapted to perform the variousfunctions set forth, itis apparent that various changes in form,proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted towithout sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. A collapsible cabinet comprising a rear wall having forwardlyextending flanges along its side edges, side walls hinged on their innerfaces to front edges of said fianges and having rear portions extendingacross outer faces of said flanges and provided along their rear edgeswith flanges overlapping side edge portions of the outer face ofthe rearwall and forming a dust-proof joint. and a door hinged to the front edgeof one side wall.

2. A collapsible cabinet comprising a rear wall having forwardlyextending flanges along its side edges, side walls hinged on their innerfaces to front edges of said flanges, front edge portions of the sidewalls being bent to form inwardly extending abutments and thenrearwardly to form flanges having rear portions bent to form lipsextending towards and terminating in slight spaced relation to innersurfaces of the side walls, the lips and the flanges of said abutmentsbeing cut to form recesses leading from edges of the lips, a stripmounted across the inner face of the rear wall between its anges andhaving its upper edge flush with the plane of lower edges of therecesses, and a shelf in said cabinet having a depending flange acrossits rear edge tting between said strip and the rear wall and a ilangeprojecting upwardly along its front edge, the shelf having forwardcorner portions tting into said recesses and end portions of its frontange fitting snugly between upper and lower edges of the recesses, andflanges extending downwardly along side edges of the shelf against innerfaces of the side walls with front end portions tting tightly betweeninner surfaces of the side walls and edges of the lips.

3. A collapsible cabinet comprising a rear Wall having forwardlyextending flanges along its side edges, side Walls hinged on their innerfaces to front edges of said flanges and having rear portions extendingacross outer faces of said flanges and provided along their rear edgeswith flanges overlapping side edge portions of the outer face of therear wall, the rear wall having recesses in opposite side edge portionsof its outer surface, tongues extending laterally from edges of theanges of the side walls and curved longitudi- Cil REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 18,293 Brogden Dec. 22, 19311,423,252 Popper July 18, 1922 1,306,610 Christensen May 26, 19311,937,935 Zimmerman Dec. 5, 1933 2,183,883 Golder Dec. 19, 19392,443,515 Rockwell June 15, 1948 2,461,219 Lew Feb. 8, 1949

